Simon Evans and Ryan Wood shared the two wins in yesterday’s Best Bars Toyota 86 Championship, which was run in support of the New Zealand Grand Prix at Hampton Downs.
Evans put on a masterful winning display in challenging conditions for the day’s earlier reverse top-ten race.
Initially, Josh Penny opened up an early advantage at the head of the field over Mark Mallard and Christina Orr-West.
Evans had started on the fifth row, but within the opening two laps had worked himself up to run third. Within the same lap, the three-time national touring car champion had got around Mallard before muscling himself past Penny to lay claim to the race lead.
As Mallard began to slip into the clutches of his more experienced rivals, it was hard-charging youngster Brock Gilchrist who moved past Penny for second on the third of nine tours.
Saturday’s race one winner Wood and Rowan Shepherd were next to get ahead of Penny, who was struggling with the slippery surface.
The worse of the weather was yet to arrive, with a heavy rain shower falling in the final three laps.
Justin Allen suffered a wild moment while Wood was left to fend off the assault of Marco Giltrap and a rejuvenated Penny.
The battle for the lead quickly began to heat up with Evans coming under pressure from Gilchrist. The duo remained patient in the conditions but were still fierce in the duelling for the lead.
Evans would cling on despite some hairy moments, leading Gilchrist over the line by 1.78s.
“I was pretty comfortable. I’m getting my head around the set up and in the end it all worked out well. It’s great to be here and it’s always good to win,” said Evans afterwards.
Rowan Shepherd was third and could well have been a factor for the win given his electric pace over the final half-a-lap. Wood and Giltrap rounded out the top-five.
The two race winners of the weekend – Wood and Evans – lined up on the front of the grid for the round finale. Evans showed his class off the line to establish a handy lead into the first turn.
But a bold move by Wood moments later had the teenager slip ahead of Evans for the top spot.
From there, a classy Wood extended his early margin over Evans to three-seconds before easing home for a second win of the weekend.
Evans tried to respond in the race’s closing stages, posting a flurry of personal best lap times. But he couldn’t eat much into Wood’s advantage and would trail his rival home by 2.8s.
A heated tussle developed between Ronan Murphy, Allen Orr-West and Mallard for sixth. At the same time, a few seconds up the road, Gilchrist caught the back of Shepherd in the fight for the final podium place.
Making his move on lap four, Gilchrist was able to power away from his rival in a steady run home for third.
Next to attack Shepherd was Giltrap. The two rookies in the class have vastly different race car experience, and Shepherd expertly resisted the attack of the 16-year-old.
Murphy’s turbulent weekend concluded with a strong sixth-place finish, with Allen some seven-second adrift in seventh.
The Toyota 86 paddock now turns its attention to round two, held on the Hampton Downs national circuit next weekend.
Race Two results:
- Simon Evans – Giltrap Racing
- Brock Gilchrist – CareVets
- Rowan Shepherd – Rowan Shepherd Racing
- Ryan Wood – Ryan Wood Motorsport
- Marco Giltrap – Giltrap Racing
- John Penny – John Penny Homes
- Ronan Murphy – Dayle ITM Racing
- Mark Mallard – Creme Insurance
- Christina Orr-West – Dayle ITM Racing
- Alexandra Whitley – Tony Richards Toyota
- Justin Allen – Allen Racing Team
- Todd Foster – International Motorsport
- Tony Austin – Genweld NZ Ltd
- Tayler Bryant – MTF Finance
- Brian Scott – Giltrap Racing
Race Three results:
- Ryan Wood – Ryan Wood Motorsport
- Simon Evans – Giltrap Racing
- Brock Gilchrist – CareVets
- Rowan Shepherd – Rowan Shepherd Racing
- Marco Giltrap – Giltrap Racing
- Ronan Murphy – Dayle ITM Racing
- Justin Allen – Allen Racing Team
- John Penny – John Penny Homes
- Christina Orr-West – Dayle ITM Racing
- Alexandra Whitley – Tony Richards Toyota
- Todd Foster – International Motorsport
- Mark Mallard – Creme Insurance
- Tayler Bryant – MTF Finance
- Tony Austin – Genweld NZ Ltd
- Brian Scott – Giltrap Racing
Main Image: Photo by John Cowpland / Toyota Gazoo Racing NZ